A photo booth rental costs about $681. The middle half of renters pay $452 to $1,022, and the bill depends on the event, the booth type, the hours and whether someone runs it. Here is the full breakdown for birthdays, proms, corporate events and weddings.
A photo booth rental costs about $681 in 2026, the median of roughly 118,000 real rentals. The middle half of customers pay $452 to $1,022. A 2-hour birthday drop-off can come in under $500, while a 5-hour corporate mirror booth can pass $2,000.
The numbers come from Check Cherry's 2026 photo booth pricing guide, built from rentals booked through its booking software by photo booth businesses since January 2024 (updated August 10, 2026). For weddings alone, WeddingWire's cost guide reports a $650 average from prices couples reported. Both checked October 2026.
Most price guides that rank for this question quote round ranges like "$300 to $1,200" with no source. Every figure on this page links to the data behind it, so you can check a quote against what other people paid.
What the middle half of customers paid. Half of all rentals land in this band.
Check Cherry, checked October 2026Where the top 10 percent of rentals start, mostly long, premium bookings.
Check Cherry, checked October 2026Average for weddings only, with most couples spending $425 to $1,000.
WeddingWire, checked October 2026The same booth costs different amounts depending on the event it is booked for. Parties sit lowest, corporate events highest, and the gap between them is about $300 at the median.
| Event type | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | Top 10% start at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party or personal (birthday, anniversary) | $450 | $606 | $845 | $1,200 |
| School event or prom | $495 | $650 | $900 | $1,395 |
| Wedding | $631 | $886 | $1,305 | $1,973 |
| Corporate event | $650 | $899 | $1,369 | $2,100 |
The cheapest category. Shorter rentals, fewer custom extras and plenty of drop-off booths keep the median near $600. A 2-hour slot during the busiest part of the party is often enough.
Close to the all-event median. Prom season is busy for vendors, so book early and ask for the school rate in writing if the vendor offers one.
About $200 above the overall median. Saturday demand, longer receptions and custom print templates push quotes up. Our wedding calculator below runs the numbers for your setup.
The priciest category, and the widest spread at the top. Branded overlays, lead capture and longer activations are the usual reasons a quote climbs past $1,300.
Pick the booth type, the hours, the attendant and prints, and the free calculator returns a price range checked against 2026 wedding bookings. No sign-up.
Event-type figures from the Check Cherry 2026 pricing guide, checked October 2026. Event descriptions are our reading of the data, not vendor quotes.
The booth style is the biggest line on most quotes. Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the dot marks the median, and the faint line reaches the start of the top 10 percent.
Camera and screen on a stand, open backdrop, prints on site. The default package at most events.
Guests stand on a platform while an arm spins a camera around them for slow-motion video clips.
An attendant walks the room with a handheld camera rig, so the booth goes to the guests.
A full-length touch-screen mirror with animations, usually with prints and a signature feature.
Black-and-white, softly retouched portraits in a studio-style setup. The priciest median in the data.
The classic open-air booth, at $615. It is also the tightest range, so quotes for it are the easiest to compare.
Roaming and 360 booths. Their medians are close to open-air, but the top 10 percent start near $1,600 to $1,700, so the package details matter more.
Glam booths at $950, followed by mirror booths at $866. Both usually include an attendant and prints.
Booth-type percentiles from the Check Cherry 2026 pricing guide, all event types and rental lengths, checked October 2026.
Vendors price setup, travel and teardown into the base package, so the first two hours carry most of the cost. Going from 2 hours or less to 5 hours or more adds about $500 at the median, not double.
Extra hours cost less than the base package averaged out: at the median, going from 3 to 4 hours adds about $100. For a party, two to three hours during the busiest stretch is usually enough. For weddings only, WeddingWire puts a typical 3-hour package at about $551.
Medians and top 10 percent by rental length from the Check Cherry 2026 pricing guide. Per-hour figures are our own division of those medians, not quoted rates. 3-hour wedding package price from WeddingWire. Checked October 2026.
The booth and the hours are only the start of a quote. These four lines decide whether you land near the median or near the top 10 percent.
Median for an attended booth against a drop-off booth with no staff. Drop-off prices stay fairly flat across hours, about $370 to $480, because no one is paid by the hour.
Source: Check Cherry, checked October 2026About a quarter of bookings add something, with a median add-on spend of $147. The top 10 percent of add-on spends run $500 or more.
Source: Check Cherry, checked October 2026Fewer than one in five rentals carry a travel fee. When there is one, the median is $50 and the top 10 percent are $150 or more.
Source: Check Cherry, checked October 2026About 47 percent of vendors take a flat deposit and about 44 percent take a percentage. Among percentage deposits, half up front is the most common.
Source: Check Cherry, checked October 2026None of these has a standard price, which is why final bills drift from first quotes. Get each answer in writing.
Packages vary by vendor, so treat this as the list to check a quote against. If a line is missing from the quote, ask whether it is included or extra.
The core hardware for the booked hours. Ask which camera and light it uses if photo quality matters to you.
Keeps the line moving, fixes paper jams and gets shy guests in front of the camera. Not included on drop-off rentals.
Many packages print strips or 4x6 cards on site. 360 and some digital booths skip prints unless you add them.
A basic prop box is common. Themed or custom props usually cost extra.
A standard backdrop is often included. Flower walls, sequins and branded step-and-repeats are typical upgrades.
Most vendors share the booth photos online afterward. Check how long the gallery stays up and whether downloads are full size.
A booth records the guests who step up to it, during the hours you book. The photos guests take on their own phones the rest of the night stay in their camera rolls unless you give them a place to upload. Section 10 covers that.
Rentals cluster in spring, early summer and December. When a vendor's peak weekends are full there is little reason to discount, so quiet months give you room to ask.
The peak months together carry about 38 percent of all rentals.
The overall median barely moved from 2024 to 2026. Individual vendors tell a different story: about 55 percent raised prices by more than 5 percent, about 26 percent stayed within 5 percent and about 19 percent cut them. A typical increase was around 8 percent, roughly $50.
Seasonality, trend and vendor price changes from the Check Cherry 2026 pricing guide, checked October 2026.
Six steps, one copy-paste message and four warning signs. The goal is three quotes for the same package, so the prices mean something.
Vendors price by the hour and by demand. Know your rental window and headcount before you ask, so every quote answers the same question.
Same booth type, same hours, attended or drop-off, prints or digital only. Different packages cannot be compared.
Find your booth type and hour count above. A quote near the median is normal, near the top 10 percent needs a reason.
Travel, setup, overtime, gallery access and print upgrades. Most bills drift from the first quote on these lines.
Half up front is the most common percentage deposit. Ask what happens if the date moves or the event is cancelled.
January is the quietest month for rentals and May the busiest. A Friday, a Sunday or a winter date gives you room to ask.
Hi! I'm planning a [birthday / corporate event / prom / wedding] on [date] at [venue, city] for about [number] guests. I'm looking for a [open-air / 360 / mirror / roaming] booth for [number] hours, [with an attendant / drop-off], with [prints / digital only]. Could you send: 1. Your total price for that package, with taxes 2. Any travel, setup, overtime or after-hours fees 3. What the prints and the digital gallery include, and how long the gallery stays online 4. Your deposit amount and cancellation terms Thanks!
If the hours, the booth type and the price are not on paper, the final bill can be anything.
Fine for a custom corporate build. For a standard party package, a vendor should be able to send a number.
Ask whether the digital copies are part of the package. Some vendors charge again to download them.
A standard 3-hour open-air booth quoted well past $1,250 needs a clear reason, like a long drive or a custom build.
A booth is a party activity first and a photo plan second. It earns its price at a lively event and sits idle at a quiet one.
A tablet on a stand, a ring light, a backdrop and a photo booth app gets you a self-serve booth for a birthday or an office party. You trade the rental fee for setup time and nobody running the line. One DIY kit seller, Knipsmig, puts a full iPad setup at about $600 if you buy everything new, and about $820 with a printer. If you already own the tablet, the cost drops to the stand, light and backdrop.
More ways to get the fun without the rental: 11 photo booth alternatives, a virtual photo booth and photo booth ideas that work for any party.
A booth makes posed photos in one spot for the hours you book. A QR guest album collects what guests shoot on their own phones for the whole event. They do different jobs, and plenty of hosts run both.
One QR code on the tables. Guests upload photos and videos from the phone browser, no app and no account, for the whole event. Free for 20 uploads, then a one-time $44, $54 or $84.
| Option | Typical price | What it captures | Who takes part | What you keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pix Wedding QR albumOur pick | Free for 20 uploads, then $44, $54 or $84 one-time | The whole event, from the first guest to the last song | Every guest with a phone, unlimited guests on paid plans | Original-quality photos and videos in one album, ZIP download |
| Classic or open-air booth | $615 median ($495 to $810) | The rental window, in one spot | Guests who walk to the booth | Prints plus the vendor's digital gallery |
| 360 booth | $750 median ($500 to $1,113) | Short slow-motion clips during the rental window | Guests who step onto the platform | Video clips, gallery terms vary by vendor |
| Mirror booth | $866 median ($600 to $1,185) | The rental window, in one spot | Guests who walk to the mirror | Prints plus the vendor's digital gallery |
| Drop-off booth (no attendant) | $450 median | The rental window, self-serve | Guests who find it, no one running the line | Prints or digital files, depending on the package |
Swipe to compare options
You want printed photos in guests' hands on the night and a staffed activity in the room. A QR album does not print anything on site.
You want every guest's photos and videos from the whole event in one place, in original quality, for a fraction of a booth rental.
Book a shorter booth rental for the prints and put the QR code next to it, so the booth shots and everything else end up in one album.
Booth prices are 2026 medians and middle halves from Check Cherry, checked October 2026. Pix Wedding plans: free with 20 uploads, then $44, $54 or $84, all one-time. Full breakdown in photo booth vs QR code photo sharing, and real upload numbers in our guest photo upload statistics.
Start with 20 guest uploads free, no card. When the event needs more, pick a plan once: every tier takes unlimited guests, photos and videos.
For a single celebration
For a crowd, a screen and a dance floor
One-time payment, no subscription
For big guest lists and repeat events
One payment. Yours to keep. No subscription. No renewals. No surprise charges.
Secure checkout. Polar, Apple Pay, Google Pay.
Money-back guarantee: if your guests never upload a single photo, you get 100% back. See how it works
One payment. No subscription. No renewals.
Start your free albumWatch a guest scan the table QR code and add photos from the phone browser, no app and no account. It runs for the whole event, next to a photo booth or instead of one.
PARTY ALBUM
Jordan's 30th
Example album
Dance floor
Add yours!
Put one QR code on the tables and guests add their photos and videos from the whole event, no app and no account. Start free with 20 uploads, then pay once if you need more.
From Mom
Scan to join the album
No app, no account
UPLOADING
THE ALBUM
Example album
647 photos · 95 guests
SCAN TO TRY
pix.wedding/
your-wedding
Drew runs a photo booth rental business and walks through the package prices he charges in 2026. It is the vendor side of the quote: what goes into a package and how he sets his numbers. Use it next to the medians above to see how one real price list compares.
Watch on YouTube (14 min)What people ask before booking a booth for a birthday, a prom, a company event or a wedding: the typical price, cost per hour, booth types, attendants, deposits and cheaper options.
A photo booth rental costs about $681 in 2026, the median of roughly 118,000 rentals in Check Cherry's 2026 pricing guide. The middle half of customers pay $452 to $1,022, and the top 10 percent of rentals start at $1,642. Booth type, hours, an attendant and add-ons move the price most.
Dividing the 2026 medians by the hours booked gives about $233 an hour for a 3-hour rental ($699) and about $200 an hour for 4 hours ($800). Short rentals cost more per hour, at least $248 an hour for 2 hours or less, because setup and travel are spread over less time.
Party and personal events, which include birthdays and anniversaries, have a 2026 median of $606, with the middle half paying $450 to $845. That makes them the cheapest event type in the data. A 2-hour or drop-off rental keeps a birthday booth near the low end.
The 2026 median for a 360 booth is $750. The middle half of rentals cost $500 to $1,113 and the top 10 percent start at $1,577. A mirror booth has a higher median at $866, and a glam booth is the priciest type at $950.
Corporate events have the highest median in the 2026 data at $899, with the middle half paying $650 to $1,369 and the top 10 percent starting at $2,100. Branded templates, data capture and longer activations explain most of the gap.
Yes. The 2026 median for a drop-off booth with no attendant is $450, against $656 for an attended booth. Drop-off prices stay fairly flat across rental lengths, about $370 to $480, because there is no staff time to pay for.
Weddings usually pay more than the all-event median because packages run longer and add prints and an attendant. WeddingWire reports a $650 average with most couples spending $425 to $1,000. For a wedding-specific estimate by booth type, hours and add-ons, use the free wedding photo booth cost calculator on pix.wedding.
A DIY booth with a tablet you already own, a stand and a backdrop costs far less than a rental, though you run it yourself. A QR code guest album collects the photos every guest takes on their own phone for the whole event. Pix Wedding is free for 20 uploads, then a one-time $44, $54 or $84.
